A school's responsibility in regards to bullying

The school plays a valuable and important role in helping your child deal with bullying and helping ease your mind, if they do it right. The school actually needs to provide safety for your child so they can learn. 'Cause if bullying happens, your child's not gonna be learning; they're gonna be worried about bullying. But what has to happen is you have to partner with the school to let them know what's really going on by providing facts and approaching the school calmly so they know you're partnering with them. And you have to make sure that they develop a plan that you sign off of so that you will comfortable that they are managing a problem that may be ongoing in school. And you have the right to ask them what that plan is, and to make sure it's handled. And if not, you take it back to the school and keep at it until you feel there's a successful resolution. That's what takes a lot of perseverance at times, because schools are uneven in the way they provide help. And it depends on different, every school's different and every state's different in terms of what they think they need to provide. But at the very basic level, schools need to make sure your child is safe.

Joel Haber, PhD

Psychologist, Bullying & Parenting Expert, Author

Dr. Joel Haber is a Clinical Psychologist and internationally recognized bully prevention and parenting expert. He was selected as a webinar leader and a speaker for the Obama Administration Federal Partners in Bullying Prevention initiative. He was also an invited participant to the Second Federal Partners in Bullying Prevention Summit in 2011. His recent book, Bullyproof Your Child for Life: Protect Your Child from Teasing, Taunting and Bullying for Good set the bullying standard for schools, camps, sports, organizations and families dealing with bully prevention and intervention. He recently published The Resilience Formula: A Guide to Proactive, Not Reactive Parenting. He is a consultant and expert to the American Camp Association, and to LG Electronics as a member of (LGTextEd.com), providing cyberbullying and mobile harassment expertise to parents and families. He is an advisor to Cartoon Network’s anti-bully campaign: Stop Bullying: Speak Up. He is an expert for No Snap Judgments: The Addams Family Broadway Show- National Campaign to promote acceptance and tolerance amongst our youth. He is also co-founder of Tool Kits for Kids (toolkitsforkids.com), recipient of five national parenting awards for helping parents and kids develop the tools and emotional life skills to overcome worry, build confidence and develop resilience. He has written and published extensively, speaking each year to thousands of parents and educators to help make children’s lives, safer and better.

The school plays a valuable and important role in helping your child deal with bullying and helping ease your mind, if they do it right. The school actually needs to provide safety for your child so they can learn. 'Cause if bullying happens, your child's not gonna be learning; they're gonna be worried about bullying. But what has to happen is you have to partner with the school to let them know what's really going on by providing facts and approaching the school calmly so they know you're partnering with them. And you have to make sure that they develop a plan that you sign off of so that you will comfortable that they are managing a problem that may be ongoing in school. And you have the right to ask them what that plan is, and to make sure it's handled. And if not, you take it back to the school and keep at it until you feel there's a successful resolution. That's what takes a lot of perseverance at times, because schools are uneven in the way they provide help. And it depends on different, every school's different and every state's different in terms of what they think they need to provide. But at the very basic level, schools need to make sure your child is safe.